Cathy, I just want to comment further here about your wonderful Fly Away Home observations. One of the coolest times in the life of a lit coach, or a team teacher, or another significant adult in a classroom, is the moment when the meaning comes through and the children soar, just like it says "in the books," and you have someone to enjoy it with you!! Just as reading To Understand alone can seem almost pale when you read it alone, but so vibrant when we read it together. We live for "the moments like this."
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [email protected]> Date: Sat, 19 Apr > 2008 07:30:14 -0400> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [Understand] the > "buzz" surrounding our listserv!> > Great news to be part of something > famous. > > Another story to share about all those comprehension strategies > coming together.> > I work primarily with struggling readers and have been > rotating groups within our 4th grade classes all year. Right now I have just > two students who have become fairly fluent as far as assessment goes, but > aren't good at deep "understanding"? I was using Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting > to practice making inferences before we went into some more difficult text. I > was starting to ask a?scaffolding question?about the bird trying to get out > of the airport, when one of my students?stopped me with this explanation of > the page we had just read: "Oh, I know? - The bird is trying to get out of > the airport just like the boy wants to. When the boy sees the bird fly out, > it is exactly what the boy hopes he can do someday - leave the airport for a > better life. The boy thinks he can be happy someday, like the bird is now. It > is a symbol for the boy." > > I was speechless! I was finally able to turn to > the other boy and say something like, "Did you get all that?" > > When you > are close to the end of the year and worrying that you have not done enough, > you appreciate signs like this one.> > Cathy> K-5> DE> > > -----Original > Message-----> From: Judy Mazur <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> To: Special Chat List for > "To Understand: New Horizons in ReadingComprehension" > <[email protected]>> Sent: Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:02 pm> Subject: > Re: [Understand] the "buzz" surrounding our listserv!> > > > Jennifer, I can > almost see you buying those copies of ToUnderstand--and I'm > smiling. And, > of course, I love the "famous" part. I strive. That pretty > much sums me up. > I'm always surprised that my colleagues think of me as an > intellectual, > because I just think of myself as someone who wants to know > AND wants to > get better.> > I'd like to share a story from my classroom. You'll > immediately see that > it's not a direct stategy lesson. I hope you see how > connected to past > strategy instruction it is.> > My whole group strategy > instruction is in Shared Reading, which I do every > day. I only have > Reader's Workshop once a week (because I do Guided Reading > in that spot the > rest of the week). For the last 3 weeks, in RW, we have > discussed conflict > in literature. With read alouds and discussion my kids > learned about (1 per > week): character vs. character, character vs. nature, > and character vs. > self. You'd be amazed how well my third graders grasped > this concept. So, > this week, I taught character vs. self then sent the > kiddos off to do their > independent reading. When I brought them back for > Sharing, I shared the > book I am reading (People of the Book) and explained > the character vs. self > struggle. Now comes the power of strategy > instruction (thanks for hanging > in this far): Eight-year-old Upasana shared:> "This is my book. It's not > fiction, it's a biography, but it has character > vs. self. It's called > (something--the life of Michelle Kwan) and Michelle > wants two things. She > wants to ice skate and she wants to swim. BUT she's > afraid of water. > Here...let me read this to you." At this point Upasana > found the stickie > she'd used to mark the page and read to us about Michelle > Kwan's fear of > water (the kids loved it because she said she even imagined > sharks in a > swimming pool). Then Upasana explained why that was really > character vs. > self (overcoming her own imagined fear).> > This is not a typical share in my > class, but it is a tribute to Ellin Keene. > I hope you like it as much as I > do. I think it's very very powerful and it > wouldn't have happened without > trusting kids to think, TO UNDERSTAND.> > Judy > > > > _______________________________________________> Understand mailing list> > [email protected]> > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org> > > _______________________________________________> Understand mailing list> > [email protected]> > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org _________________________________________________________________ Pack up or back up–use SkyDrive to transfer files or keep extra copies. Learn how. http://www.windowslive.com/skydrive/overview.html?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_skydrive_packup_042008 _______________________________________________ Understand mailing list [email protected] http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/listinfo/understand_literacyworkshop.org
